Governor-Elect Tony Evers offers support to Milwaukee as he speaks with Mayor Tom Barrett at City Hall. Evers said he wants to continue working with Barrett and the Common Council to benefit Milwaukee.(Photo11: RIck Wood/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)Buy Photo

Gov.-elect Tony Evers wants Gov. Scott Walker to rescind four dozen appointments approved by the state Senate Tuesday in a special legislative session called before Walker leaves office in January.

The appointments range from members on the Dentist Examining Board to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

"In the midst of this already-extraordinary legislative session, it is extremely disappointing to see more attempts to further override the will of the people of Wisconsin," Evers wrote.

Evers said public hearings weren't held for many of the appointments, and their financial disclosures have not been reported.

"These appointments should be fully vetted in the next legislative biennium," he said.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday also demanded public hearings and further vetting, but the state Senate approved the appointments along party lines 18 to 15.

The letter was sent just minutes before the Senate convened to take up the appointments.

Among the appointments are Scott Beightol of Wales, who will replace U.S. Rep-elect Bryan Steil of Janesville. Beightol is an attorney with the Madison-based Michael Best and Friedrich law firm, which has defended the Legislature's Republican-written boundaries, and handled litigation on behalf of Walker.

Walker also appointed Torrey Tiedeman as a student regent.

Aides to Walker did not immediately respond to when the appointments were submitted. The Legislature has not met since March.

As the Senate began debating the appointments, protesters interrupted the lawmakers' debate three times — prompting Senate President Roger Roth the clear the Senate gallery, drawing chants of "Shame!" and screaming in the Capitol halls.

Less than 45 minutes after the Senate convened, Roth suspended their work as police cleared the gallery.

Earlier in meetings at Milwaukee City Hall on Tuesday, Evers side-stepped efforts in Madison by Republican lawmakers to weaken the powers of the incoming governor, and instead he pledged his administration will work with the city on key urban issues.

Evers declined to speak to reporters about lawmakers’ lame-duck efforts to scale back his authority, both before and after meetings with Mayor Tom Barrett and members of the Common Council.

He noted only in a speech to the Common Council that his administration was “working hard against kind of a headwind with the Legislature right now."

In a nine-minute speech to aldermen, Evers said that four areas his budget will prioritize — education, health care, transportation and prison reform — will all benefit the city.